


Thinking About the Moon

by NebulousDream



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 18:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5015233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousDream/pseuds/NebulousDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamaguchi Tadashi and Tsukishima Kei are close friends, who can share many comfortable silences together– hanging out, doing homework, eating, wherever. However, these silences give Yamaguchi a lot of time to think.</p>
<p>He mostly thinks about how much he likes Tsukki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thinking About the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really rusty with writing; this is probably the first piece of fiction I've put together in around a year or more. I apologize that this is a pretty tired-out theme between these two, but hopefully it's enjoyable anyway.

Yamaguchi Tadashi sat across from his best friend at the food court of their local mall in a comfortable silence. Many moments with Tsukishima were like this, spending time in each other’s company but never directly communicating. It wasn’t unpleasant, strictly speaking; rather, the opposite. Yamaguchi was happy, knowing that he could spend time around Tsukki and not feel like he was being a bother. He could sit, make idle chat at the start, but then both resign to eating and people-watching in silence until they decided to do something else with their afternoon.

However, these silences also gave Yamaguchi a lot of time to _think._

He and Tsukishima had been friends since they were in grade school, and over those many years of friendship, Yamaguchi had plenty of time to develop quite a handful of feelings about Tsukishima. Mostly, these feelings were that he _really, really liked Tsukki._ In the beginning, his admiration for his best friend hadn’t been much of an issue. He didn’t know exactly when, but very suddenly, his admiration became a _large_ problem. His heart would skip a beat if Tsukki glanced his way in the middle of class, and his face would heat up whenever Tsukki would say something like “Shut up, Yamaguchi.” When they would get together at one of their houses to study, Yamaguchi would find himself unable to properly focus, and instead staring at Tsukishima’s legs. Or his arms. Or his hair. Or his glasses, or his intense, concentrated gaze at whatever subject he was studying in that moment.

It was a problem, indeed. As for times like these, when they sat in comfortable silence existing in each other’s space, Yamaguchi thought about how much of a problem it was. If he were being honest with himself, he would want to confess his feelings, but he cherished the close friendship that he had built with Tsukki far too much to risk rejection. As such, he would sit in many places (not unlike the food court that he was in right now) and stew in his emotions, trying not to stare.

“Yamaguchi.”

“Ah?! Wh-what’s up, Tsukki?”

“You’re not really eating. Is something wrong?”

Yamaguchi looked down to his food to see that he was, in fact, not eating as much as he normally would. His sandwich was mostly untouched, and his fries were merely nibbled at, probably absentmindedly.

A nervous laugh escaped his lips. “I’m fine, Tsukki, honest! I was just thinking about how much I really like y–” He stopped himself, face reddening. _Shit._ “Y-y’know! How much I really like these fries! They’re the best I’ve ever had.”

“You say that every time.”

“S-sorry, Tsukki.”

The silence returned, this time with a sense of awkwardness hanging in the air. After a while, both having finished their respective lunches, they wordlessly stood and meandered around the mall for a bit more before deciding to head home. They rode the bus in silence, and walked most of the way home together, like they would on volleyball practice nights. Again, it was Tsukishima who broke the quiet.

“Are you thinking about something?”

“Hm? Oh, just, y’know. Class, and homework,” Tadashi lied, looking away and rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Did you want to come over to work on it tomorrow?” Tsukishima quirked a brow.

“I would, but, what about you? I wouldn’t want to impose if you don’t have anything to do…”

“I have some.”

“Oh, great! Then we can work together! What time should I come over?”

“Whatever time you want. Just text me beforehand.”

“Okay!” Yamaguchi smiled brightly, then realized just where he was. “I have to go this way, but I’ll see you tomorrow, Tsukki!”

“Yeah. See you.” Yamaguchi could have sworn that he saw a small smile on Tsukki’s face, but walking back home and getting ready for bed, he convinced himself he was seeing things.

-:-

The next day, the two say across from each other on the floor of Tsukishima’s bedroom. Kei’s homework was in his lap, and he was staring intently at it. Whether he was focused or confused was beyond Yamaguchi’s comprehension, but he’d forgotten about his own homework a little while ago, in favor of looking at Tsukki instead.

Tsukki had a particularly commanding presence, Yamaguchi noted. In all their years of knowing each other, whenever they were together, he felt reassured. He knew that Tsukki was way more intimidating than he could ever be, really, not that he paid much mind to it. He only felt that Kei had a powerful presence when he walked into the room. Maybe that had to do with his height– Tsukki was unnaturally tall, after all.

Lost in thought, Yamaguchi didn’t notice Tsukishima staring back at him. “Did you need something?”

Yamaguchi jolted in surprise. _Whoops._ “N-no, I was just thinking about… how to conjugate this verb,” He looked down at his English homework in disdain. He really did suck at English.

“Which verb is it?” Kei asked, leaning forward slightly to peer at Yamaguchi’s homework. He tried not to think about how if he moved a bit closer, they could bump foreheads, and closer than that, they could–– _No. Stop it,_ Tadashi scolded himself.

Tsukishima glanced at the paper. “Are you having trouble with to be?”

Yamaguchi blushed in embarrassment. “Yeah. I can’t get the hang of it,” He huffed, his mind going back to his pesky homework. “Or any of these irregular verbs. It just this exercise, though,” He turned his page to Tsukki’s attention, showing a set of exercises where the objective was to fill in the blank with the appropriate conjugation of the verb.

“Irregular verbs are hard to get used to,” Tsukki said, moving so he could sit next to Yamaguchi. “Do you want to go through it together?”

“H-huh? Sure, Tsukki, but don’t you have your own homework?”

“It’s almost done, anyway.”

They proceeded to go through the exercise together, without much trouble from Yamaguchi’s end. Tsukishima could be surprisingly encouraging when he wanted to. Having watched him tutor (rather, get exasperated with) Hinata and Kageyama earlier in the year, he wouldn’t have thought that he’d be a good teacher at all. As it turns out, Tsukishima was simply selective about who he could tolerate tutoring.

“It’s not so bad, once you get used to it,” Kei said when they were finished.

Yamaguchi nodded. “Thanks so much for your help, Tsukki!” He smiled, genuine and bright. It really helped speed along the process to work on homework with someone else around.

Tsukishima looked away, clicking his tongue the way he always did when he was dealing with Hinata and Kageyama. “Don’t mention it.”

While Yamaguchi would swear he saw a light blush over Kei’s cheeks, he convinced himself he was seeing things again.

The remainder of the evening passed without incident– they took appropriate snack breaks and finished the homework they needed to do. Suddenly, Yamaguchi looked up from his belongings and right at Tsukishima.

“Tsukki!” He exclaimed, eyes wide and eyebrows high.

“What is it?” Kei raised an eyebrow, not annoyed or startled, but curious.

“I almost forgot, there’s a festival next Saturday! It’s not too far away, would you… um…” Yamaguchi trailed off, realizing that it might come off as him asking Tsukki out on a date. Which totally wasn’t true. Yamaguchi just had nobody else to go with, and he really wanted to go to the festival! Just… not by himself. “Would you wanna go with me?”

“Sure,” He answered, as if it was no big deal. Yamaguchi felt himself release an inner sigh of relief. _Oh, good! He didn’t take it the wrong way…_ “What time should we meet up?”

“Is around 5 okay? We can get some food, and then stay long enough for the fireworks!” His excitement was probably evident in the way he bounced a little as he spoke; Tsukki chuckled at him.

“Sounds like a plan, then,” He looked to the clock, frowning. “It’s getting late. Do you need me to walk you back?”

Tadashi shook his head. “No, I’ll be okay, Tsukki. Thanks, though. I’ll see you later!” He jumped up, gathering his school supplies, not wanting to forget anything even though he would be seeing Tsukki in school the next day. They walked to the door together, and Tadashi waved goodbye before hurrying down the road to his own home. 

-:-

The next week passed with relative speed, though Yamaguchi felt like it dragged on and on. Everything felt so routine, he could hardly wait to spend more time with Tsukishima at the festival. Maybe it was silly: Tsukki was his best friend, they’ve known each other since they were small, why would spending time with each other garner such excitement? Yamaguchi blushed, thinking about his growing affection for Tsukki. It made him unbearably nervous for Saturday, and when the day finally came around, Yamaguchi found himself pacing around his room, spending a lot of time in front of the mirror. He bit his lip, then frowned at himself. _Why am I so nervous? Nothing’s going to happen._

5 o’clock rolled around, and Yamaguchi met up with Tsukki and, like so many other times in their lives, they walked together in a comfortable silence. Neither of them wore anything special for the festival– Yamaguchi didn’t want to look overdressed next to Tsukki, and he figured that Tsukki wouldn’t want to wear a yukata, anyway.

They reached the festival site, and it was buzzing with activity. The soft lights from the lanterns covered the entire landscape in a warm glow, the positive energy radiating to the patrons. Kids led around their parents from stall to stall, fishing and playing games for prizes and begging their parents to buy them just one more caramel apple. Yamaguchi felt like one of those kids, excitedly babbling in front of Tsukki as they explored the festival and all of its wonders. They split takoyaki together, and Yamaguchi even got Tsukishima to play along with a dart-throwing game. He won a garishly-colored trinket, which he immediately handed to Yamaguchi.

“Tsukki! I can’t keep this, it’s yours!” He protested.

“Keep it for memory’s sake,” He urged. “It’ll just get lost at my place, anyway.”

Tadashi looked at the trinket in his hand. Well, despite its outlandish color scheme, at least it was pretty cute. Maybe he could hang it up on the wall with a pushpin, or something.

Before either of them knew it, night fell over the festival. The stars shone overhead, and the moon was bright in the sky. Yamaguchi pulled Tsukishima away from the crowd, up on a hill, to watch the fireworks marking the end of the festival. They exploded into all sorts of colors– oranges, reds, pinks, blues– and to Yamaguchi, it felt pretty romantic.

He looked to Tsukki, who was watching the fireworks– Yamaguchi could see them in the warped reflection of his glasses. He looked at peace, absolutely without the usual slight irritation evident on his face, when they would go out like this normally.

Then, Tsukki cast his glance at Yamaguchi. “Is there something wrong?”

Tadashi felt himself at a loss for words. Blush creeping up his cheeks again, his brain betrayed him by not finding a denial fast enough. “Pretty…” He murmured. _Brilliant,_ He scolded himself. _You didn’t even answer the question._

“What?” Kei wasn’t off-put by his reply, but the genuine confusion in his voice threw Tadashi off. Usually he’d try to cover it up to seem at least a little nonchalant. The fireworks died down, and people clapped around them and began to disperse. Gentle moonlight returned once the firework clouds dissipated.

“Uh! Y-you’re– well, you’re really pretty, Tsukki. In the moonlight like this.”

Tsukishima turned his head toward the sky. “The sky’s a lot prettier, don’t you think?”

Tadashi shook his head, though he was sure Tsukki couldn’t totally see. “I think you’re just as pretty as the moon, Tsukki.”

His gaze didn’t leave the sky. “Well, if I’m the moon, then you’re the stars.”

Awestruck and flustered, Yamaguchi spluttered. “Wh-wha–? Tsukki, what do you mean?”

Tsukishima turned his eyes back to Yamaguchi before turning to face him fully. His hand came up to cup Yamaguchi’s face– _Can he feel how warm I feel right now?_ – his thumb tracing over his cheek. “These,” he said simply.

“My cheeks?”

“No, your freckles,” He clarified, thumb continuing to caress his cheek. “They’re like the stars.”

Yamaguchi’s face seemed to keep heating up– he was afraid he’d explode of embarrassment. “W-well, they twinkle because the moon is so bright, it showed them how to shine.”

“That’s… that’s corny, Yamaguchi,” Kei chastised, though there was amusement evident in his voice.

“Sorry, Tsukki,” He giggled, though when it trailed off, he found himself captivated in the eye contact he shared with the blonde, who was still caressing his cheek. “Um.”

“Um?”

“Umm,” Yamaguchi tried to tear his eyes away, but he couldn’t. They were so close, now. And there were no fireworks to distract him anymore, either (not that they distracted him from Tsukki, anyway). “I think you’re really pretty.”

“You said that.”

“Right,” He laughed again, pure nerves flowing through his veins now. _It’s now or never. Just do it, Tadashi._ “I really…” He took a deep breath. “I really like you, Tsukki.”

He watched in uncertainty, as Tsukishima’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. Yamaguchi’s stomach dropped, fear beginning to take over where the nerves once were. Though, Tsukki’s hand hadn’t moved, and that was enough for him to hang on to for now.

“You deserve better than someone like me,” Tsukishima asserted. He moved to take his hand away from Yamaguchi’s face, but Yamaguchi placed his hand on top of Tsukishima’s.

“No,” Yamaguchi shook his head for emphasis. “I’ve thought about this a lot, Tsukki, and I really, _really_ like you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but I can’t… I don’t _want_ anyone else.”

A strange look came over Kei’s face then– confusion? Relief? Whatever it was, he looked so vulnerable. Tadashi was unfamiliar with seeing Tsukki look at him so openly– he was normally a very guarded individual.

He blinked a few times. _Holding back tears?_ “I feel the same.”

Yamaguchi’s hand tightened around Tsukishima’s, smile spreading wide across his face. He took a few steps (maybe he bounced a little, he didn’t know) to close the distance between him and Tsukki, and reached his hand around to grab Tsukki’s neck and pull him into a gentle kiss. He didn’t really know what he was doing– he’d never kissed anyone before– but it felt right, and that’s what mattered, right?

When Kei’s hand slid to grab the back of Yamaguchi’s head, sifting his fingers through his hair, moving his lips to deepen the kiss, Tadashi’s heart soared.

Yeah, this _definitely_ felt right.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm a little obsessed with the whole Tsukki is the moon, Yamaguchi is the stars business. I find it absolutely cheesy and romantic, and when things are that cheesy and romantic sometimes I have a hard time NOT writing about them. I hope it made you smile!


End file.
